Now that the whole title fight is over -- with the film's
official title now being the slightly clumsy "Lee Daniels' The Butler" -- the
Weinstein Co. is turning its attention back to the publicity-generating Fonda
brouhaha. On Thursday (July 25), it released a brief clip from Daniels' film,
showing Fonda in costume as Nancy Reagan talking to Forest Whitaker, who plays
the film's titular butler. She also talks briefly on-set about the role. (Watch it in the embedded clip below.)

"The idea that I could play Nancy Reagan was just too much
to resist," the actress says. "I thought it would be fun to play her. I know
people say, 'Oh, my gosh, you know, Jane Fonda's playing Nancy Reagan,' but I
don't think that whatever differences there might be in our politics really
matters. As an actor I approach her as a human being -- and I happen to know
that she's not unhappy that I'm playing her."

Fonda is part of an impressive cast that also includes David
Oyelowo and Oprah Winfrey -- playing the son and wife, respectively, of
Whitaker's character -- along with John Cusack as Richard Nixon, Robin Williams
as Dwight Eisenhower, James Marsden as John F. Kennedy, Alan Rickman as Ronald
Reagan and Liev Schreiber as Lyndon B. Johnson.

"The Butler" -- which shot in
New Orleans throughout summer 2012 -- is based on the real-life story of Eugene
Allen, a black butler who served at the White House through eight presidential
administrations -- thus giving him a unique front-row seat to America's civil rights movement. The film is scheduled for release on Aug. 16.